In the following description, the term rolled sections is intended to mean both bars with a simple section and bars with a complex section of any form whatsoever.
The state of the art covers devices used to form bundles of rolled sections, arranged in orderly layers or piled up haphazardly, located downstream of the cooling area placed at the outlet of the rolling train for bars.
The devices for forming the bundles cooperate with the end part of the transport means which feed the rolled sections coming from the cooling area in a direction which is normally at a right angle to the axis of the rolled sections.
Solutions known to the art include rod or finger means which, rotating or translating around an axis lying on a plane substantially parallel to the plane on which the rolled sections lie, remove the sections from the transporter, or collect them as they fall from the transporter, and unload them at a storage and tying station.
The first problem with devices such as this is that it is difficult to define homogeneous groups of rolled sections to be unloaded in the storage and tying station to form bundles with a homogeneous conformation and/or consistency.
This problem is even greater when the rolled sections are small, because of the close proximity between them and the speed with which they are fed by the transport means.
Another serious problem is that, during the step when the rolled sections are collected or picked up from the transport means, they may be twisted or superimposed, during the transfer and/or discharge to the storage and tying station.
These twisting movements and/or superimpositions occur when the rolled sections are allowed to fall from the transport means and collected by the rod means or finger means, or when the rod means or finger means discharge the sections into the storage and tying station.
This is also due to the uncontrolled movements to which the sections are subject when they are on the rod means or finger means.
These twisting movements or superimpositions make it more difficult to form and tie the bundles, which are therefore disorderly and not very compact.
Another problem with devices known to the art is that the cycle for forming the bundle is very long.
In these devices, when one layer is complete and the rod means or finger means transfer the rolled sections from the transport means to the tying and/or discharge means, it is necessary to interrupt the feed of the rolled sections.
In fact it is necessary to allow the rod means or finger means to complete the translation and unloading steps before they return to their operating position to pick up or collect the sections.
Another problem is the height at which the sections are discharged from the conveyor belt to the rod means or finger means which carry out the unloading and translation.
The greater this height is, the more it causes, during the unloading step, superimpositions, misalignments and twisting movements which are all the more accentuated when the sections are thin and when the speed of feed is higher.
The prior art documents DE-A-2445470, DE-A-2401174, WO-A-9614247 and EP-A-282800 show devices to form bundles of rolled bars or tubes which are clearly designed for large diameter products, which do not have the above-mentioned problems of superimposition, twisting, lack of homogeneity of the formed layer, etc.
Therefore, these known devices do not contribute anything to solve the specific problem of this invention, nor do they solve the problem of reducing the times required for every cycle for the formation of the bundle.